Herzer’s lawyers contend Redstone’s daughter, Shari, manipulated her father and his nursing staff to engineer Herzer’s ouster.
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FILE – In this April 20, 2013, file photo, media mogul Sumner Redstone arrives at the 2013 MOCA Gala celebrating the opening of the Urs Fischer exhibition at MOCA, in Los Angeles.
“There was a circle of deceit, a palace coup stretching over a year and featuring a ring of spies”, Herzer’s lawyer Pierce O’Donnell said in his opening statement.
“The trial will expose the tragic inconvenient truth that Sumner Redstone needs the court’s protection from those who have lied to and exploited him in his debilitated condition”, O’Donnell wrote in a statement Thursday.
After Redstone’s death, his National Amusements interests will transfer to a trust that includes daughter Shari Redstone and Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman.
Fortune magazine reported that Redstone’s lawyers at the firm Loeb & Loeb are filing a suit which would reclaim the $150 million in gifts given to Herzer and another former girlfriend Sydney Holland.
The judge will view the video in a closed session but will then release a transcript of the interview, which was recorded at Redstone’s home on Thursday.
Klieger rejected that claim, saying Herzer repeatedly lied to Redstone and tried to isolate him from his family and other women.
O’Donnell said Redstone and Herzer ended their romantic relationship in the late 1990s and remained close friends and confidantes until October. She says she is trying to protect the mogul by having him declared incompetent.
The trial will focus on whether Redstone was of sound mind when he approved removing Herzer from his life.
“I kicked her out”, Redstone said.
If Herzer succeeds, the outcome could set off a chain of events taking majority control of Viacom Inc and CBS Corp out of Redstone’s hands, which could alter the course of the two media giants.
Illness has robbed Sumner Redstone of his voice, but a trial scheduled to begin Friday will determine whether the ailing media mogul remains competent enough to make key decisions about his life. He ordered that Redstone give 30 minutes of videotaped sworn testimony at his home.
Redstone’s attorneys say he has a severe speech impairment but knew exactly what he was doing in October.
A judge has said seeing and hearing from the 92-year-old Redstone is crucial to the case and his ruling on whether the mogul is capable of making decisions for himself.
Herzer had been Redstone’s designated person to make medical decisions for him, but was replaced.
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Klieger said Redstone has trouble communicating but no difficulty comprehending what’s going on around him.
